#FightBackCorona: This crisis has catalysed creative thinking: Tarun Jha

These are extraordinary times and we all are in uncharted territory. There is a lot of fear and negativity in all spheres due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. While the Corona Warriors are doing a tremendous job fighting from the frontlines, we at Adgully are embarking on an endeavour to highlight the positive developments during these challenging times.

Adgully is featuring a series of brief interactions with industry leaders in India and find out how they are keeping their spirits up as well as keeping their employees motivated, also how they are joining in the fight against the adverse impact of the global pandemic.

Tarun Jha, Head of Marketing and Product, Škoda Auto, talks about the several measures that his organisation has taken to help out the society at large on the one hand, as well as keeping the operations going on in full swing even as the staff is working from remote locations.

What steps are you and your organisation taking to help out the society at large or those engaged in the war against COVID-19?
Our organisation in India and also in Europe moved very quickly to help out the society at large in the war against COVID-19. We are supporting hospitals in Pune, supplying face-shields, sanitizers and also distributing food packets in Aurangabad to the local community.

We are also supporting our dealer partners so that they can tide through the lockdown and also help their staff in these tough times and ensure that they retain their jobs and livelihoods.

Our dealers are working with local administrations and running emergency services for doctors and health workers, as they need to be mobile. We have contacted all the doctors in our customer database and provided them with emergency contact numbers, which they can call if they face any issues with their cars.

We are also disseminating information related to personal care, car care and car disinfection tips for our customers.

Another step that we took to help our customers is to extend the missed deadlines for Warranty, Free Service and Maintenance Service Packages, till the lockdown is lifted.

How are you keeping your employees motivated and are encouraging them to give their best, even as they are working from home?
Since we all are working from home, we have daily virtual meetings with almost all our team members. People are happily busy with the ongoing projects as we have ensured to let everyone know that the COVID-19 crisis will cause a little delay in the projects, but we have to bring everything back on track. The morale is pretty high and teams are now thinking up innovative solutions to solve problems. The crisis has catalysed creative thinking and this is helping all of us.

The Management is holding informal sessions with teams on Skype, with a clear intent to discuss personal topics and hold lighthearted conversations.

We have also created chat groups, where we encourage sharing of knowledge as well as fun and trivia to keep everyone engaged. We can see that the crisis has actually brought a lot of people together and they have formed deeper and more personal bonds with colleagues.

In a nutshell, the teams are looking at this crisis as a positive challenge and a breather to recharge, rethink and resurge when it is over.

What is most needed in challenging times such as these:
(a) From the general public:
Discipline and strict adherence to the rules and regulations stipulated by the authorities. There is no other way we can win over this crisis.

(b) From the authorities:
The authorities in our country are doing a wonderful job in managing the current situation. We will need a lot of support from the Government to rebuild the country’s economy once this crisis blows over.

(c) From business leaders:
Reassurance on protection of jobs and earnings would be the need of the hour.

Media
@adgully

News in the domain of Advertising, Marketing, Media and Business of Entertainment

More in Media